STANTON : Campaign Donation Limits Are Rejected

Councilman David John Shawver tried again to get his colleagues to support a limit on campaign contributions, but his plan was once again rejected by the council majority.

Shawver repeated his call Tuesday for campaign contributions in local elections to be kept to a maximum of $250 per donor per candidate. Such a limit would create “a level playing field for all candidates in a local city election,” he said in a written proposal.

“It would eliminate an officeholder who had political connections from ‘buying’ the election with thousands of dollars and sharing it with friends who were also candidates, thus controlling the election and ultimately the City Council,” Shawver wrote.

Though his colleagues rejected the idea in May, the persistent councilman said he was moved to bring up the issue again because of voters’ overwhelming support in June for a cap on contributions to candidates seeking countywide offices.

“Thousands of people in the county asked for this,” Shawver insisted.

Shawver added that he was not citing any abuses in recent Stanton elections, but that he feared “it’s a possibility . . . this is just a scenario.”

“In this recessionary period, especially, people shouldn’t have to raise thousands of dollars to get on the council,” he said. “This type of money is not needed in our small, local elections.”

But he had only Councilman Harry Dotson’s support. Mayor Sal Sapien and Councilmen Don Martinez and Joe Harris again voted down Shawver’s proposal, saying there haven’t been any misdeeds in the city’s elections. They also expressed concern that such limits would not be upheld in court.